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I'm on a bit of a roll with the Mustangs at the moment. Now that I've got a bit of a grip on airbrushing technique and the use of Alclad, the options seem almost limitless (and that's just in the 8th AF which is my interest). But there are a couple of iconic P-51s that I've always wanted to do, including at least one of the aircraft in those classic photos of the 'Bottisham Four' taken on 26 July 1944. Here's 361FG CO Lt Col Christian's 'Lou IV' captured on film that day:
And here's my rendition of it. It's the lovely little Airfix 1/72 kit, basically out of the box but with fin fillet removed, wing panels puttied, canopy rails added, elevator mass balances scribed, and a rear view mirror scrounged:
Decals are Eaglecals, which worked beautifully. The main code letters were a bit too tall so I cropped them a touch to get the fit just right.
Underwing tanks are from the kit, but I moved the filler cap on one of them and added the flange that runs round the middle of both. I also added the plumbing for good measure.
Paint is Alclad Polished Aluminium for the natural metal, and plain Aluminium for the lacquered areas. This was protected by a coat of Alclad gloss clear, brushed on - it worked a treat. The greens went on next and are both Tamiya: the dark areas are Olive Drab (brush painted and inspired by our very own Tony O'T's impressive results), and the lighter bits are RAF Dark Green (a mix of brush on the fuselage and airbrush on the wings). There's been a lot of discussion over the colours which I took into account before making my decisions. The invasion stripes were airbrushed for the wings and brushed on the fuselage. And the yellow is Xtracrylix. Final varnish is my preferred mix of Humbrol enamel Satin and Matt.
To get a hopefully accurate reproduction of the underneath I used period photos of Christian's aircraft:
...and of 'Tika IV' also from the 361st FG. Both appear not to have invasion stripes on the radiator door:
The cockpit is stock Airfix, so the seat, instrument panel and gunsight are not correct for a D-5 model. But I'm not fussed about that: the aim of this build was to get a decent replica of that classic paint job, and I don't think it's too far off. Here she is with my fairly recently built P-51B, which used the KP wing and the Hasegawa fuselage:
Hope you like it!
Justin